Businessman Kentaro Kawabe has stirred up debate on 5ch’s Hello! Project board after posting on X (formerly Twitter) following the opening night of Morning Musume。’26’s autumn tour “Chou Heartful 11,” writing something to the effect of, “I’m about to reveal my seat number, so whoever’s sitting on either side of me, please put your arm around me.” The thread saw a wave of negative reactions like “don’t just start some creepy tradition on your own,” while others voiced nostalgia for long-standing audience customs at concerts (like “Acchi Muite Hoi” — a pointing/rock-paper-scissors game — and the “Blue Sky Train”). The discussion ended up blending judgments of Kawabe personally with broader opinions on the culture of strangers interacting in neighboring seats.
What people said
1AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:08
Kentaro Kawabe@dennotai
Morning Musume。'26 Concert Tour Autumn "Chou Heartful 11," opening day, first show.
The four new members sang that song with such freshness, and Sakura Oda — soon to graduate — blew everyone away with an intense performance of that other song. It was amazing right from the start, but
3AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:09
This guy's been going on about wanting to link arms forever, hasn't he
9AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:10
If the person next to you is a woman, that's sexual harassment — he'll get slapped with damages
14AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:12
There are plenty of cases where the person next to you is some stinky old man, you idiot
16AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:14
Once the intro starts, everyone's already looking left and right
Just go for it yourself
17AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:16
The guy whose seat got exposed probably doesn't want to go now
Everyone around will be watching him
20AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:19
Back when I went to a ℃-ute concert, the wota next to me hit me with an "Acchi Muite Hoi" (a pointing game) — I'm still traumatized to this day
23AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:24
Even with guys on both sides of me I just stick my arm out, I don't actually link arms
If it's a woman I just shrink into myself
25AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:25
Back when I used to go to shows, we had the "Blue Sky Train" thing
26AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:25
Some people don't want to be touched — keep it among your own friends
27AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:25
Wait, hold on, weren't you sitting in the VIP/industry seats?
29AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:26
In a livehouse maybe, but
linking arms in a proper concert hall is something you do with people you actually know
31AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:27
I wonder if anyone still remembers "Ike! Genki-kun"
Guess nobody's left who does
34AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:29
Re: #31
The one where you chop the person next to you?
32AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:28
If he's tweeting this seriously it's cringe, and if he's tweeting it as a "this is what Momusu wota are like, lol" joke that's just tasteless
I hate this guy
33AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:29
The "Blue Sky" era was probably when the fanbase was at its most insular
35AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:29
Fujimoto was the one forcing the "Blue Sky Train" on everyone, lol
36AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:30
Everyone should experience the sadness of holding your hand out during "Genki-kun" and getting ignored
There are stuck-up people out there who won't even make the gesture even when a member tells them to
37AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:30
I feel like Sayu's wota were about the only ones still keeping this up
Don't know much about it though
38AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:30
Weren't you there that one time they kept doing "Happy Daisakusen"?
Did the bit just die out?
39AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:31
I mean, couldn't you just say that to them in person at the venue?
Are you saying if someone refuses they should switch seats?
Or maybe tell them to take a bath and stop smelling bad first?
40AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:31
Yoshizawa's graduation concert had quite a few female wota, and the person on my group ticket was a woman too, but we still linked up
45AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:34
If Nabe-chan ended up next to me I'd probably talk her ear off
She's not someone you can normally interact with
49AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:35
Re: #45
She's not someone a lowly commoner like you gets to casually talk to
Your one minute isn't worth anywhere near as much as hers
46AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:35
He's supposedly some "solopreneur," so he should just stick his own arm out solo
47AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:35
He should just link arms with the chairman or Nishiguchi instead
50AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:35
Re: #47
Pictured it and lost it laughing
51AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:35
Mai Hagiwara forcing everyone to shake hands with the people on both sides during "Ike! Genki-kun"
Hell for solo wota
53AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:36
Re: #51
Oh yeah, that happened, lol
52AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:36
It's fine to talk to people at the venue and at the bar afterward
54AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:37
Guess you really love "Happy Daisakusen"
58AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:38
https://youtu.be/51xMc0R5cY0?list=RD51xMc0R5cY0&t=64
This is it — they actually tell you out loud to turn to the side
61AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:41
Re: #58
I think the second verse was the chop part
Honestly the chop is easier than the handshake
You can just chop away with your penlight and call it done
60AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:40
I still remember being startled when a wota I didn't know put their arm around me during "Batchikoi Seishun!"
65AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:41
I love "Happy Daisakusen" so much I even made it the title of my Hulu special — that's how obsessed I am with it
69AnonymousSep 5, 2026 19:43
Re: #65
Oh, is that so
Well then go ahead and keep it going
Background and Points of Debate
Kentaro Kawabe is the former president of Yahoo Japan Corporation and currently serves as a director within the LINE Yahoo group, while also being a devoted Hello! Project fan who frequently shares his concert impressions on social media. This latest post appears to be an extension of that habit — likely intended, without malice, as his own brand of fan service rather than anything sinister. What split opinion in the thread were two separate layers of judgment: how people felt about Kawabe’s own words and behavior, and how they felt about the broader culture of strangers at concerts linking arms or waving to one another. “Acchi Muite Hoi” (a pointing/rock-paper-scissors-style game) and the “Blue Sky Train” were audience customs seen mainly at Morning Musume concerts back in the 2000s, and in recent years more fans have come to dislike this kind of forced interaction — making it a topic where reactions run hot depending on whether it’s seen as a cherished tradition or an unwelcome imposition.
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